WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2008

COMING THURSDAY

SECRET INVASION TIE-INS

Marvel Comics has released updated images and details about five of its Secert Invasion tie-ins.

Following is a rundown of the titles. All will be in stores on June 25.

* Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #1 starts right in the middle of the Skrull's armada arrival to Earth. How will both teams react with a Skrull on each? These two teen teams have to do what they can to push the Skrulls back, but can they trust their Skrull teammates? By Christopher Yost and Takisha Miyazawa.

* Mighty Avengers #15 takes a trip back to the past around the time of Avengers Disassembled and reveals a major hero as a Skrull impostor. Find out just how long a certain hero was out of the picture and had a charlatan in his place. By Brian Michael Bendis and Khoi Phan.

* New Avengers #42 also takes readers back to the formation of the New Avengers and reveals just who was behind the breakout that brought the new team together. The true start of the Secret Invasion is revealed here. By Brian Michael Bendis and Jim Cheung.

* Avengers: The Initiative #14 spotlights how the Invasion has affected the Initiative and how much potential damage can be dealt by possibly having a Skrull in every state. With a special ex-Avenger Delroy Garret assuming the mantle of the greatest Skrull-Hunter Earth has seen, the Skrulls couldn't possibly stand a chance. Right? By Christos Gage and Stefano Caselli.

* Ms. Marvel #28, featuring a not-so-happy Carol Danvers, drops readers right in the middle of Manhattan as the Skrulls begin to spread and destroy. Having battled the new-age Super-Skrulls, and potentially losing someone she cared deeply for, Ms. Marvel has her sights set on anyone with green skin and is ready to hand out the bruises. By Brian Reed and Adrian Melo.

WANTED IMAGES

Universal Pictures on Wednesday released 35 images -- mostly new -- from the Wanted movie, based on the Top Cow series by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones.

The images were released in conjunction with a new trailer for the film, due in theaters on June 27. They feature James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and Common.

Click on the thumbnails for larger images.

Look for more Wanted news soon here in The Continuum.

JUSTIN HARTLEY BACK TO SMALLVILLE

According to The CW, Justin Hartley, who has guest-starred as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow the past two seasons of Smallville, will become a cast regular in Season 8.

Hartley, 31, was featured in a pilot, Austin Golden Hour, but that wasn't picked up, enabling his return to Smallville.

Before his Smallville stint, Hartley starred in the never-aired Aquaman pilot for The WB.

On Smallville, Oliver Queen was a long-time rival of Lex Luthor's and became romantically involved with Lois Lane. Lois discovered Queen's identity in "Siren," an episode that also introduced Black Canary.

There's no word if Black Canary will return.

Tom Welling, Allison Mack and Erica Durance are returning for Season 8, and Kristin Kreuk will appear in a handful of episodes.

Michael Rosenbaum, John Glover and Laura Vandervoort are all exiting as regulars. Show creators Miles Millar and Al Gough have also left.

The new season will include two new villains, Doomsday and a female antagonist.

Look for more announcements regarding Smallville next month, close or at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK ROUNDUP

NBC has released an image from the appearance of The Incredible Hulk's Liv Tyler from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Tuesday night.

Tyler related an anecdote in which her pants split during a scene in which Betty Ross is pulling her father out of a crashed helicopter. She was given the nickname "Action Pants" by a cameraman.

A scene from the film's final act was shown, as Bruce and Betty kiss just before he drops out a helicopter to turn into the Hulk and face the Abomination.

Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.

In other Hulk news:

* Pringle's tie-in campaign has begun, with specially marked cans, similar to those of Spider-Man 3 from last year.

IMAGE COMICS FIRST LOOKS

For covers and five-page previews of Image Comics titles arriving in stores on June 11, CLICK HERE.

Titles include WildGuard: Insider #2 and Screamland #4.

Look for more First Looks on Wednesday here in The Continuum.

ARCHIE COMICS FIRST LOOKS

For covers and four- to seven-page previews of Archie Comics titles arriving in stores on June 11, CLICK HERE.

IDW PUBLISHING HIRES ANDY SCHMIDT

IDW Publishing on Wednesday announced the addition of Andy Schmidt as a senior editor.

Schmidt will serve as a leader on several licensed properties, including G.I. Joe, and in developing new projects.

Schmidt started his comics editing career with Marvel Comics underTom Brevoort, where he rose from assistant to full editor on such projects as X-Men, X-Factor, Ms. Marvel, and Annihilation. He left Marvel in June of last year to launch his own comics-teaching business called Comics Experience and started freelance writing.

"What started as a casual conversation between Chris Ryall and myself about how we approach editing quickly became a job interview. My background is in editing, writing and teaching and Chris liked that combo -- thought I'd bring a different voice to my projects," Schmidt said. "Chris introduced me to Ted Adams and the three of us hit it off. IDW is in the storytelling business and has a rich history of exceptional comics created by exceptional creators. I'm glad to be a part of it!"

"Andy's creative approach to the titles he works on, coupled with their sales success as well as his reputation amongst the creators he's worked with all mark him as one of the best editors in this business," Ryall said. "I'm looking forward to putting Andy's many strengths to good use here. He'' going to be a great addition to the team, which is ultimately going to be a huge boon for fans of our comics, too."

According to IDW, Schmidt's other projects will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

AUGUST SOLICITATIONS ROUNDUP

For previously posted August solicitations, click on the publishers' names below:

BRIEFLY

The variant for the issue, which kicks off the run of Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi, will premiere at Comic-Con International in San Diego on July 23.

The new story will return Storm to the team.

Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.

* The CW 4Kids has released three more images from "Intervention," this Saturday's episode of The Spectacular Spider-Man. The story continues the story of the black suit and its changing appearance.

"The symbiote's control over Peter isn't sudden, it progresses -- and we wanted to show that aspect visually as well by having the black suit progress from classic web pattern to non webs," producer/supervising director Victor Cook said. "As the web unravels, so does Peter's control. Also, it was fun to for us to homage both the movie and comics versions of the black Spidey suit."

Click on the thumbnails for larger images.

COMICS CONTINUUM BACK ISSUES

In case you missed The Continuum's coverage over the past month, here are some links. Click on the date to get the day's full report.